Mount Vernon boys basketball drops pair of LCL games

This week was a tough one for the Mount Vernon boys' basketball team in the Licking County League.

The Yellow Jackets fell to host Johnstown, 52-40, in a game on Dec. 10.

“We battled throughout the game. We have made progress as a team over the last week, however, Johnstown made us pay for most of our mistakes tonight. They were the more efficient offensive team tonight and that made the difference. We will continue to work and get better moving forward,” said Mount Vernon coach Nick Coon.

Trent Wells led the Yellow Jackets (1-2) with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. Lane Mussard added nine points, while Justus Shaw had seven points and five rebounds. Landon Dawson checked in with seven points and four rebounds.

An early lead disappeared quickly as MV fell to Licking Valley, 64-43, on Dec. 13. The Jackets jumped out to a 17-11 lead after one quarter, but the Panthers took the lead heading into the locker room, 29-27. A huge second half helped LV win the game.

Wells scored 20 points, including eight in the first quarter, to lead the Jackets. Trace Beck added seven, while Cody Dapprich and Mussard had six each.

Wrestling

Two Mount Vernon wrestlers tested their abilities against some of the best high school wrestlers this past weekend at the Ironman tournaments.

Alex Taylor, a senior, finished as the runner-up in the 285-pound weight class at the tournament at Walsh Jesuit.

Taylor started the tournament on fire, winning his first two matches by pin. He pinned Grant Mulhern of Bethlehem Catholic (Pennsylvania) in just 40 seconds in the first match, then followed that up with a pin in 1:24 over Joe Ma of host Walsh Jesuit.

The MV senior won his quarterfinal match, 11-3, over Cael Mielnik of Blair Academy (New Jersey), then escaped with a 5-4 victory over Kameron Hazelett of Lowell (Indiana) in the semifinals.

The finals went back and forth with Mark Effendian of Faith Christian Academy from Quakerstown, Pennsylvania. Taylor got an escape in the second period to score the first point. Effendian followed with his own escape early in the third, then pulled out the 5-2 victory with a takedown with just 19 seconds left in the match.

Ashlynn Brokaw, a junior, finished fifth overall in the Women of Ironman at Walsh Jesuit.

Brokaw started the invitation-only tournament by beating Emerson Webber of Hernando, Florida, 13-6. She followed that up with a technical fall victory over Sophia Reece of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

In the quarterfinals, Brokaw fell by pin to Isla Silva of Mount Lebanon (Ohio). She then received a forfeit to finish fifth overall.

Bowling

The Mount Vernon bowling teams are sitting near the top of the Licking County League standings at the midpoint of the season.

The boys’ squad is sitting at 6-2 in the LCL. The Yellow Jackets started the season with six straight LCL victories (Granville, Northridge, Lakewood, Licking Heights, Lakewood and Granville) before Utica was able to nip them, 2,151-2,147, on Dec. 10. They then fell 2,370-2,213 to league-leading Heath.

Griffin Beach has been leading the Jackets, averaging 204.93 per game with a high game of 266. Cooper Ferguson is next at 183 per game with a high game of 225, while Bryce Hellenback is averaging 175 with a high game of 229.

The Jacket girls’ team currently sits 5-2 after losses to Granville in the opening match and Heath. MV beat Lakewood twice, Northridge, Utica and got revenge against Granville in its second meeting.

Dani Bumpus is lead the Jackets with a 158.83 average. She has a high game of 178. Haylie Watts is closed behind at 149.08 per game with a high game of 191. Addy Dussenberry is averaging 134.25 with a high game of 189.